Basil Karlo
Basil Karlo is a character featured in the animated series spinoff The Batman Character Overview Ex-movie star Basil Karlo is a has been desperately looking for any job to further his acting career, unfortunately his lack of skill, his attitude, and to an extent, his appearance has had him rejected at every turn. However, after coming across the Clayface serum and deliberately drinking it does he find the perfect chance to make himself the perfect actor and character: a monstrous doppelganger that can act in anyone's stead. Appearance As a human, Basil appeared as an unattractive male adult with a long face, a slightly elongated nose, buck teeth short, orange hair. Once becoming the new Clayface, he adopts a monstrous form completely different from his human form featuring a square jaw and a lack of a nose, making him to appear to be a much more intimidating figure with a hulking shape, a dull red texture and red eyes. Personality Basil comes off as a stereotypical talentless actor with a huge ego, often letting his 'success' go to his head. He attempts to make people feel sorry for him but his acting fails to convince anyone of his stories, subsequently provoking him when criticized. Special Abilities As the Clayface, Basil possesses all of the original abilities the original had which included shapeshifting, mimicry, liquefying, mass shifting and weapon formation. However, Basil has a few advantages over the original. Because he had consumed a refined version of the mutagen that transformed him, he cannot lose his powers via cure as the cells are too deeply saturated and bonded with his DNA, only reverting him to his human form momentarily. In addition, because Basil had took the time to practice his powers the second he got them, he displays more skill in utilizing abilities for fighting. Finally, Basil is able to absorb minerals and dirt in order to increase his own size and power. Basil's fighting style is wholly aggressive, relying on brute force without bothering to evade attacks or form up any manner of defense to guard against attacks Synopsis Basil Karlo was an actor who originally starred in an old sci-fi flick called Revenge of the Atomic Clone. However, his success had gotten to his head had not realized how bad his acting was, trying to find any acting job to settle in, but failed in every attempt, some commenting on his appearance, his most recent attempts trying to get in a dog food commercial. Basil realized he was in a real rut when he overhears news of the Clayface mutagen. Seeing it as an opportunity to boost his chances at landing a job, he heads to Wayne Enterprises and steals a refined version of the mutagen. Back into a corner by security, he drinks the the mutagen immediately out of desperation and escapes by slipping through a cage door and impersonating an old lady. He returns to the dog food audition, posing as a stereotypical idol-like figure, but his acting is again criticized, provoking him into attacking the judges with his shape shifting powers to terrorize them. At first, Basil is distraught by his attack and even moreso as his victims identified him in his mimicry. However, he soon finds 'benefit' in this stunt as all of the news channels are now showing his face on TV, seeing this as a bloom of popularity and inspires him to become a movie villain, but for real. He starts off with robbing a bank, but is confronted by Batman and Robin. He is able to easily brush them off with his powers however and escapes. Pilfering more banks to enhance his 'career', he recently receives an interview although he is angered by the interviewer caring more about Batman going after him. Eventually, he is confronted by Ethan Bennett, the original Clayface whom had reformed earlier with an intent to rejoin the police with his powers. He proves to be a bit more of a match for Basil due to his police training, but the tables turn when both begin using their powers as Basil had taken the time to practice his new abilities but is repelled by a timely intervention by Batman and Robin again. The three team up against Basil, battling on a bridge that soon collapses after he rips off too many supporting beams he was using as weapons. As the building crashes, he assumes a much more monstrous form, having absorbed the minerals and dirt beneath him to fuel his power and snags Ethan when he shields the duo from him. Using this opportunity, Ethan invades his body and fuses with him to keep him at bay, urging him to use the cure. Wasting no time, Batman administers the cure, reverting Basil and Ethan to their human forms and both are sent back to Arkham Asylum. Basil is later seen playing chess with The Joker but vaguely hints at his powers. As he reaches for a stray piece, he discovers that his powers are not exactly gone... Trivia Category:Characters Category:Cartoon characters Category: Comic characters